Out of thin air comes help for babes in arms

Tian Congliang still wears a backpack-sized portable oxygen concentrator at all times even though he has been in Nagchu, Xizang autonomous region, 4,700 metres above sea level, since early last year.

- By WANG XIAOYU and DAQIONG

"Long-term oxygen deprivation in this environment can slow down cognitive reactions," said Tian, a neonatologist.

"Saving newborns is a race against time and often requires making critical medical decisions in the blink of an eye."

Tian, 47, from the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University in Dalian, Liaoning province, serves as the head of the neonatal intensive care unit at Nagchu City People's Hospital, the country's highest-altitude top-tier public hospital.

Since 2015 central authorities have sent teams of medical experts to Xizang to raise the level of local healthcare.

The northeastern province of Liaoning has paired up with Nagchu, and has sent seven teams comprising more than 130 medical workers to the city. They have introduced 291 new medical technologies previously unavailable in the region, making it possible to treat an extra 23 severe diseases and 435 major illnesses locally.

Tian is the first medical aid professional specialising in neonatology, the diagnosis and treatment of infants within the first 28 days of life, to work at the hospital.